THE GAME: The University of Cincinnati women’s basketball team returns home following a seven-day break to face the Temple Owls Saturday inside Fifth Third Arena at 2 p.m.

THE SERIES: Saturday’s match-up will be the first-ever between the Bearcats and Owls.

LAST TIME OUT:

The Bearcats held off a second-half rally from Houston Saturday inside Hofheinz Pavilion to pick up their first win as a member of the American Athletic Conference.

Randolph led the Bearcats to open the game, going 6-of-6 from the floor to start the game. The senior scored 12 straight points for the Bearcats, at one point out-scoring Houston 12-8.

Houston briefly countered with a 5-0 run, capped by a three from Marissa Ashton, which cut UC’s lead to 20-17 with 7:41 left in the frame. Hollins pushed UC’s lead back to six with a three from Hollins.

Cincinnati closed out the half on a 13-3 run as the defense held Houston without a basket during the final 6:14 of the half.

UC opened the second half 3-of-17, allowing the Cougars to cut the advantage down to 43-36 with 7:47 to play.

Cincinnati finished the game going 4-of-5 from the floor and 7-of-9 from the free throw line.

Jeanise Randolph led UC’s effort with 22 points, shooting 11-of-18 from the floor. She picked up her sixth double-double of the season, pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds.

Dayeesha Hollins was the only other player to finish in double figures with 15 points. She was 2-of-3 from three-point range.

Overall UC shot 40.4 percent while limiting the Cougars to just 31.6 percent. The Bearcats held Houston 17.4 points below their season scoring average.

Houston was led in scoring by Te’onna Campbell, who poured in 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The senior forward also led the Cougars in rebounds (7) and steals (2).

SCOUTING THE OWLS:

Temple enters the contest with a 9-7 overall record and a 3-3 conference mark.

The Owls most recently picked up a 80-66 win over SMU on Jan. 14. Four players on each side of the game reached double digits in scoring with Temple being led by 16-point efforts from Tyonna Williams and Feyonda Fitzgerald.

The Owls have wins and losses most of the season, never winning more than three straight or losing more than two straight.

The Owls rank third in the conference in both three-point field goal percentage (33.6) and free throw percentage (68.6).

Jeanise Randolph is making her mark in conference play, ranking third in rebounding (10.4), eighth in blocks (1.4), ninth in steals (2.0) and 10th in scoring (13.2). She leads the league in defensive rebounding (7.6). Randolph has two double-doubles in five conference games.

Jeanise Randolph’s six double-doubles this season are the most for a UC player in a single season since Jill Stephens finished the 2007-08 season with 10.

Cincinnati’s is currently ranked fourth in the conference and 40th nationally in scoring defense, limiting opponents to just 59.3 points per game.

Senior Dayeesha Hollins scored the 1,000th point of her UC career during the first half of the game against Akron. She accomplished the feat in two seasons and 10 games after playing her freshman season at Michigan. She is now the 25th member of the 1,000-point club.

Cincinnati went 5-0 against the state of Ohio during non-conference play. The Bearcats picked up wins over Kent State, Akron, Youngstown State, Xavier and Ohio State.

UC set a new scoring record under head coach Jamelle Elliott after totaling 86 points during the win over Akron. The mark eclipsed the previous best of 85 against Furman during Elliott’s first game at UC.

Bianca Quisenberry was named American Rookie of the week on Dec. 9, 2013 after nearly recording a triple-double against Youngstown State. The true freshman had 21 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists against the Penguins. It was the first freshman award for UC since Kayla Cook garnered the honor on March 1, 2009.

Sophomore Alexis Durley set a new school record for free-throw percentage, going 14-of-14 against Kent State on November 17, 2013. The previous best performances was 12-of-12 by Cheryl Cook on Nov. 22, 1983. She also had a career high 18 points in the game. Durley eventually converted 21-straight free throws.

Cincinnati is currently ranked second in the American Athletic Conference and 49th nationally in free throw percentage at 73.8 percent. Six times this season UC has scored more than 17 points from the free throw line and five times shot better than 80 percent.

Senior Jeanise Randolph earned the first weekly conference award for the Bearcats since the 2007-08 season when she was named American Player of the Week on Dec. 16, 2013. The senior recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds during a 64-49 win over Ohio State. Randolph was also named to the honor roll once this season (Dec. 9, 2013).